North Carolina lifts fracking moratorium

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed into law a bill ending the Tarheel State’s moratorium on energy production via hydraulic fracturing.

The governor’s action ends a 2012 moratorium on hydraulic fracturing–also known as fracking — that was imposed to provide time for fracking-specific regulations to be drafted. It also terminates a decade-old fracking ban.

Fracking is a method of extracting oil and natural gas deposits that are inaccessible by conventional drilling. The method has become increasingly common over the past decade and, together with the companion technology of horizontal drilling, has been largely responsible for the recent energy production boom in the United States.